BY SYLIVESTER DOMASA
3rd October 2013
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Tanzania Electric Supply Company (Tanesco) clarified this yesterday, saying the ongoing power blues in Dar es Salaam is due to the current constructions of power-substations in the city and technical hitches occurred at the national grid on Monday.
The utility company’s communication manager Badra Masoud said yesterday that the blackout which occurred on Monday in the city was due to a failure of a transformer at Ubungo substation and pin insulator’s flush at one of steel poles of Northern Kinondoni region circuit.
“The collapse resulted to massive power interruptions in various areas in the city as well as upcountry,” she said, adding that Tanesco is working to stabilise power supply in the city, which is the commercial capital of the country and home to 5 million people.
The new installations for substations are taking place at Kinyerezi, Gongolamboto, City Centre, Kurasini and Mbagala. After the completion the units will boost power supply in the city which is currently heavily dependent on Ubungo, Tegeta, Kipawa, Ilala and Makumbusho power plants.
Masoud named the areas which were severely affected by the blackouts as Ubungo, Kimara, Mbezi, Mabibo, Mandela road, Temeke industrial area, Magomeni, Sinza and Kigogo.
Other areas which faced power blues past midnight on Tuesday include Kawe, Mikocheni and some parts receiving electricity from the northern Kinondoni circuit.
Masoud reiterated that the current construction of the five power substations will solve regular power interruptions in the region.
“Most areas in the city are populated,” she said noting, “An increase of customers has automatically forced us to upgrade power lines and power stations to meet the alarming power demand.”
For a week now Dar es Salaam power consumers have experienced power blues with some areas claiming to have endless interruptions while others complain of silent power rationing from Tanesco.
A spot survey conducted by The Guardian established that residents of most parts of the city were forced to switch on their generators to support various activities that heavily depend on electricity.
In some parts of Kimara-Stop Over all the way to Mbezi-Luis, power blues continued on Sunday after a stable supply in the four previous days.
A resident of Kimara mwisho, Lilian John, who is also a petty trader said the area has been facing regular power cuts, noting: “While Stop-over might have electricity in the evening, Kimara would be in a blackout for about three or five hours.”
“Sometime the rationing takes the whole night, meaning we would be in a blackout throughout the night,” she said, calling on Tanesco to be more informative with its customers when it comes to power cuts.
“We had no electricity the entire Sunday, at least this week there were no serious power interruptions,” Prisca Lunahi, a resident of Kijitonyama told The Guardian.
However, Mikocheni resident, Makore Mwita maintained that power cuts in his area have been common, adding that when he sought for clarifications from Tanesco he was told that the construction of the new power stations and the increase of customers were the reasons behind the rationing.
Mwita said the rationing has inconvenienced many people, especially those who heavily depend on Tanesco-supplied power to generate income.
A city centre dweller who preferred anonymity due to his social status said the problem calls for political will and immediate intervention if the country is to economically advance rapidly.
SOURCE: THE GUARDIAN
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